Glossary

Firstly, to be clear: CO2, in case you were still in any doubt, is carbon dioxide – an essential gas for life on earth, but one that is being grossly overproduced by human activity, and thus causing the rapid warming we are seeing in current times. 

CO2e represents the words “Carbon dioxide equivalent”, and refers to the approximate, average carbon dioxide emissions of an activity eg. driving 5000 miles by car, or the monthly emissions of an average adult.

Carbon Neutral refers to the state where the sum total of an entity’s carbon emissions are offset through carbon credits. 

Eg. If your organization currently produces 100 tonnes of carbon emissions per year, it can become carbon neutral by purchasing 100 verified tCO2 per year from projects through U Offset. 

Carbon Neutrality certification depends on compliance with PAS 2060 and requires some commitment to emissions reductions as well. Offsetting is not simply a pass to continue emitting as much carbon as you do unchecked.

You can find out more on how to make your business or product carbon neutral with U Offset, and our partners at Sustainable Business Services.

It’s a great thing to aim for as a starting point. But in the end, it’s not enough to stop global warming. Read on…

Confusingly, these two terms have been used interchangeably for years to describe the same thing. 

Climate Positive/Negative, whichever way you want to refer to it, is something we must all aspire to be if we are to save our planet- as individuals and also as organisations. Put simply, it means that overall, you have a net effect of removing more carbon from the atmosphere than you emit. 

Your organisation can become a Climate Positive Workforce with U Offset. Through your profile with us, you can offset the emissions from your team’s personal lives and business travel each month. We also advocate always to reduce, remove and eliminate as much carbon as possible to complement offsetting, and we can guide you on that journey.

Net zero is the most ambitious sustainability strategy, and it is something that all of us should be striving for in the long term, if we are to keep the planet within 1.5ºC of warming as required by the Paris Agreement.

Put simply, net zero refers to the balance between the total amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. We reach net zero when the amount we add collectively, is no more than the amount taken away.

The best way to think about net zero is in terms of the organisation’s contribution to the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere. Whilst it’s feasible to be carbon neutral whilst still producing lots of emissions, net zero requires a commitment – across all scopes of emissions – to reducing emissions in line with a 1.5ºC warming target, and then – and only then – offsetting any residual emissions using carbon removal offsets.

Company A wants to do something extra for its employees and customers through U Offset. They opt to become a Climate Positive Workforce, offsetting the emissions of their staff team, and they also decide to plant a new tree for every hire. They also set up automated integrations through Zapier and Shopify so that their customers automatically plant trees and buy carbon offsets when they interact with the company. They use the Company Goals section of their U Offset profile to set targets to reduce emissions and train staff on being sustainable and putting the planet before profit. Company A is Climate Positive.

Company B is writing their sustainability strategy. They aim to reduce their emissions, so they measure them, make some reductions and decide to offset their company emissions by purchasing carbon credits from a solar project through U Offset, and decide to certify their neutrality through the Carbon Trust. Company B is carbon neutral.

Company C has decided to go a little further. They take all the steps to become carbon neutral, certify with a recognised body, but decide to offset 1x additional tonne of carbon per product sold. They offset their carbon emissions using a mixture of renewables and cookstoves projects through U Offset. Company C is carbon negative.

Company D has opted for an ambitious yet challenging sustainability strategy. After measuring emissions, they commit to science-based emissions reductions which align with a 1.5ºC future. Once they have reduced all possible emissions, they then offset their residual hard-to-reduce emissions using carbon removal, through projects certified by the Woodland Carbon Code. Company D is net zero carbon.

Carbon credits from mature woodland are hard to come by, and this ties-in to why U Offset does not count its tree planting projects towards its calculations of carbon reductions: because our trees are new, they have not reached enough carbon capture potential to be counted as verified tonnes of carbon reductions. Some trees don’t reach overall carbon capture until their 10th year of life.

For the same reason, all of the credits created by the Woodland Carbon Code (which was launched in 2011 and verifies projects in the UK) are currently Pending Issuance Units (PIUs) until they are mature enough to become retirable Woodland Carbon Units (WCUs) – which are then equivalent to one tonne of carbon removed. Until the trees are this age, they cannot be considered carbon credits of any kind. Once mature however, they will be an example of a nature-based carbon removal credit.

BECCS: Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage. Producing energy from biomass  (renewable organic material, such as plants, or waste products), and capturing and storing the carbon produced in naturally occurring underground rock, where it won’t cause harm to the environment.

DACCS: Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage. Capturing and removing carbon dioxide directly from ambient air, using something very clever called “carbon scrubber technology”, and then storing it in the way as with BECCS.

Take a look at our guide for businesses on how to reduce carbon emissions.